It may have been the last flickers of summer heat in Brussels in those days in late August, but enough to be reminded that water is essential to life. Against this suitable backdrop, JPI Oceans hosted a hybrid scoping workshop in its Secretariat in Brussels to explore the potential of research and innovation related to offshore groundwater resources as a possible new priority topic. The workshop's objective was to identify opportunities and priorities that could lead to the establishment of a formal JPI Oceans Joint Action on “Offshore Freshened Groundwater” (OFG) following the ongoing scoping of the topic by a small expert group.
The scoping is jointly lead by Malta and Italy, further supported by Germany, Greece, and Romania. Experts covered a broad range of expertise that included geosciences, hydrology, risk assessment, groundwater monitoring, management, and regulation. They worked out first insights which will be presented in more detail to the JPI Oceans Management Board meeting in October 2024, aiming to advance scientific contributions supporting the possible creation of a regulatory framework for OFG.
- The group emphasised the importance of exploring OFG, stressing the significant information gap compared to inland water resources. They identified several promising regions for further investigation.
- Participants noted the need for technological innovation in OFG exploration, highlighting possible opportunities of building on existing infrastructures and of collaborating with energy sectors.
- Sustainable management of OFG reserves should consider environmental impacts like subsidence and ecological disruption but also economic and environmental advantages of OFG over seawater desalination.
- The discussions stressed the importance of public engagement and stakeholder involvement to earn social acceptance and establish robust regulatory frameworks.
- The group discussed further strengthening the budding community of stakeholders around OFG, including policymakers, industry actors, and researchers and further consolidating the concept for a Joint Action.
In Europe, research on OFG is currently conducted by small, highly specialised groups that often operate in isolation. This fragmentation creates barriers to effective collaboration, limiting the exchange of data, expertise, and infrastructure. As a result, there is a need for a more integrated, interdisciplinary approach that brings together diverse scientific fields and considers the broader policy and regulatory challenges associated with OFG.
Offshore Freshened Groundwater contains lower salinity than seawater and occurs in sediment and rock formations beneath the seafloor. Exploitable OFG is typically located within 50 kilometres of the coast at depths of around 100 metres. OFG can form through various processes, including current active recharge, recharge during periods of low sea levels, sub-glacial and pro-glacial injections, and diagenetic mineral transformation. Techniques used to investigate OFG include drilling, logging, geophysical methods (like reflection seismics and electromagnetic surveying), and numerical modeling. The potential use of OFG comes with challenges, including legal implications, a lack of comprehensive data in Europe, technological and economic feasibility concerns, and environmental impacts. Efforts are needed to involve stakeholders, map existing infrastructure, and establish common priorities to advance OFG exploration and use.